Make your own with some MDF. The only thing to watch out for is to make sure the mobo and PCI cards are held securely in place. You don't want any movement which could pop a card out of its slot.

For me, this was a way to make a very quiet desktop for audio work. Hard drives, and some fans, are suspended in mid air so they can't transmit vibrations to the box. Encase everything in Owens Corning / Knauf (but be careful to leave some vent holes...) and it's almost silent.

For me, this was a way to make a very quiet desktop for audio work. Hard drives, and some fans, are suspended in mid air so they can't transmit vibrations to the box. Encase everything in Owens Corning / Knauf (but be careful to leave some vent holes...) and it's almost silent.

Why not simply use silent fans in the first place? Using anything else than plain aluminium cases just prevents heat dissipation which in turn means more work and noise for your cooling system. For HDDs, I only use SSDs or 2,5" HDDs these days. Data storage is best kept in a room where noise doesn't matter._________________backend.cpp:92:2: warning: #warning TODO - this error message is about as useful as a cooling unit in the arctic

Fans can very easily set off a sympathetic vibration when they're mounted on the case. They're also more prone to creating turbulent (and noisy) air flows if they're blowing directly into a perforated grid. You might be OK though.

For me, this was a way to make a very quiet desktop for audio work. Hard drives, and some fans, are suspended in mid air so they can't transmit vibrations to the box. Encase everything in Owens Corning / Knauf (but be careful to leave some vent holes...) and it's almost silent.

Why not simply use silent fans in the first place? Using anything else than plain aluminium cases just prevents heat dissipation which in turn means more work and noise for your cooling system. For HDDs, I only use SSDs or 2,5" HDDs these days. Data storage is best kept in a room where noise doesn't matter.

Matters more for dust prevention, less if you've only got two huge fans doing the job at around 600-800rpm._________________backend.cpp:92:2: warning: #warning TODO - this error message is about as useful as a cooling unit in the arctic

Matters more for dust prevention, less if you've only got two huge fans doing the job at around 600-800rpm.

Which is positive is it in only? Does placement of the 2 huge fans @600-800 rpm make much difference?

There should be "flow", over heatsinks and hard drives. Good tip is having a filter on intake and outtake (in case you don't have pressure) and otherwise sealed case. Also cables and stuff, should be bundled and out of the way, but I guess you know that.

there you go. Aluminium has no positive effect and many drawbacks. Only stupid people by aluminium cases.

Ah, the experts. Any cheap case will pick up vibrations, regardless of steel or aluminium. Actually, I have seen much more roaring cheap steel/plastic cases. Each of my aluminium Lian Li systems was/is completely silent without the help of noise insulation, just rubber mounted (and both big, often expensive) fans and coolers, plus a selection of efficient chips and vibration-free SSDs/HDDs. Actually, I could use any cheap aluminium case that way, even if that was more prone to vibrations - that simply doesn't matter when there are no vibrations generated in the first place. Too bad most other cases look stupid.

Now, for silent systems, powerful GPU requirements are a real nightmare. It can still be done by choosing an upper middle class card that comes with a passive cooler, or replace an existing air blower (reference design PCBs required) with a passive one._________________backend.cpp:92:2: warning: #warning TODO - this error message is about as useful as a cooling unit in the arctic

Well those things were really necessary before PSU vendors and the likes finally got the idea there was a market for silent systems. These days I'd only consider water cooling either as a gadget -because I can- or a fine solution for high-budget high-GPU-performance systems._________________backend.cpp:92:2: warning: #warning TODO - this error message is about as useful as a cooling unit in the arctic

there you go. Aluminium has no positive effect and many drawbacks. Only stupid people by aluminium cases.

Ah, the experts. Any cheap case will pick up vibrations, regardless of steel or aluminium. Actually, I have seen much more roaring cheap steel/plastic cases. Each of my aluminium Lian Li systems was/is completely silent without the help of noise insulation, just rubber mounted (and both big, often expensive) fans and coolers, plus a selection of efficient chips and vibration-free SSDs/HDDs. Actually, I could use any cheap aluminium case that way, even if that was more prone to vibrations - that simply doesn't matter when there are no vibrations generated in the first place. Too bad most other cases look stupid.

Now, for silent systems, powerful GPU requirements are a real nightmare. It can still be done by choosing an upper middle class card that comes with a passive cooler, or replace an existing air blower (reference design PCBs required) with a passive one.

and with a massive steel case you wouldn't even need rubber...._________________

AidanJT wrote:

Libertardian denial of reality is wholly unimpressive and unconvincing, and simply serves to demonstrate what a bunch of delusional fools they all are.

The fans that I usually buy come with rubber as default, so I don't really care - it's _the_ superior mounting method. So... no need for super-heavy steel cases.

Anyway, the biggest source of vibrations that remained after fans had improved and case mounts grown to sizes of as large as 140mm were 3,5" HDDs. Lian Li (and probably some others too) cases solve that with non-conventional rubber mounts too. No metal-on-metal contact with the case. Best solution for conventional cases is to avoid ancient 3,5" disks and use a combination of SSD and 7.200rpm 2,5" HDD._________________backend.cpp:92:2: warning: #warning TODO - this error message is about as useful as a cooling unit in the arctic

There should be "flow", over heatsinks and hard drives. Good tip is having a filter on intake and outtake (in case you don't have pressure) and otherwise sealed case. Also cables and stuff, should be bundled and out of the way, but I guess you know that.

I've not yet come across a reasonable server case with a filter (I have eyed some desktop cases if I were to go that route again, but I'm currently looking for server cases to reduce clutter).

How does the above relate to positive air pressure or large slow moving fans? I understand as general good practice (although I've yet to find a good way to get cables "out of the way")._________________lolgov. 'cause where we're going, you don't have civil liberties.